Urchins!

Well, you go and upgrade your computer and suddenly you are days behind on all your blogging posts! I have done quite a lot this week - knitting, washing more fleece, painting the house:-) - but I thought I would indulge in showing you some Finished Objects. Yup, FO's!! A long time since we've seen any of those:-) Everything has been ongoing, its beginning to hang over my head a bit so it's time to clear the decks and get some of these projects finished.

So, today it is two urchin berets. The first is the lovely multi-coloured red Urchin knitted with the majorly chunky Adriafil baba that I waited ages for in the post so I could finish knitting it up. So now it is finished, I've realised it is HUGE! While I was knitting, it didn't seem any bigger in circumference that any other beret but the band for your head obviously has too many rows and the hats falls down past your nose:-) Sigh. So after all that wait, and I must say an enjoyable knit, I think it is destined for being ripped back and knitted into something else. Maybe a circular bag....

The beret is precariously balanced on the dummy's head so it doesn't slip down her nose:-) It is really bulky at the back too and unfortunately in this jumbo scale not very flattering on! But I decided to knit another urchin in a thinner yarn to compare and contrast.

Same large pattern size but look at the difference. Little baby blue and jumbo red! It's a shame as the red yarn is really lovely and warm and would make a great hat. I think if I wanted to use it for an urchin I would have to create an extra, extra small version:-)

The blue Urchin is knitted in the Paton's Symphony I was swatching with earlier. All I needed to do was use 7mm needles instead of 8's and knit the large size to compensate for the stitch reduction. Saying that I could have got away with the small or the medium hat size as it still has a little more slouch that I would like. That may be due to the tension being a little looser than I would like as well - maybe 6mm's would be the answer:-)

Anyway, this is a very quick knit and the short rows just fly by using super chunky. I finished the last 5 wedges out of 8 and grafted the seams in about an hour or so this afternoon. This fits a lot better but still I don't find the style that flattering on me. I wonder what a much finer gauge would knit up like? With a little pattern tweeking, and maybe using st. st instead of the textured garter st, it could become a whole new hat in its own right. Thinking cap on......

Well, I have cleared my work space and I have pulled out another long overdue for finishing WIP - the fushia forest canopy. I'll work on this tonight and show you how far I get tomorrow.....

Happy knitting!

Carding the fleece and spinning

It's been a while since you've heard anything about the fleece I was washing so I thought I'd give you a little update on its progress. Some of the fleece has been cleared of all the little twigs and bits that didn't come out during the washing stage but it's such a long, boring process that I'm breaking it up into stages:-) So I started to card the smaller amount of totally clean fleece into rolags - small manageable rolls of prepared fibre - ready for spinning. The idea is to get all the fibres evenly carded in the same direction so when you are spinning it makes it easy to pull out and create an evenly spun thread.

There we are, nice rolags in a row. I don't make them too big or it gets a bit unwieldy on the carders. Better to have lots of small evenly carded ones:-) I've been doing this outside as the weather has been lovely today but after a while I got a bit too hot so I took my little pile of rolags inside and decided to see just how much thread they would make.

This is how much 3 rolags made - not bad. I thought it would take me a little bit of practice to get an even thin yarn but the problem was more spinning too thin! I tended only to get uneven lumps when I had missed a lump in carding so its more the carding technique at fault than the spinning, I'm glad to say. I played around with the tension on my wheel and the more pull I gave it the more likely my overly fine yarn would snap. So I'll stick to a lot of treadling for now until I feel more proficient. As long as I get enough spin in so it doesn't unravel when I ply.....

10 Rolags in and I'm on a roll! My spinning technique is getting better - more even but also generally thinner than when I started. I will have to practice deliberately trying to achieve specific thicknesses of yarn - lace, fingering, DK, aran weight etc. I think I'm thinking once this is plied then it will be twice as thick so don't make the single too thick but at this rate it won't be thick enough!!

The other problem I was having was the fleece was a bit sticky. I read that this is a problem when too much lanolin stays in the fleece so it looks like either using salt doesn't work or I didn't use enough. I deliberately didn't de-grease the fleece as the lanolin was meant to make spinning easier. So either I de-grease the remainder of the undyed fleece and spin it, or I de-grease and dye it now before spinning. I'm leaning towards the dyeing myself as spinning off-white is getting a bit monotonous!! Imagine selecting all the subtle colour variations to spin together! A colour paradise!!

But I am already prepared:-) I ordered some Synthraopol (de-greaser) from DT Craft and Design a few days ago and it fortuitously arrived this morning. Perfect timing, I think.

It may take a few days for me to get the fleece de-greased and dried, dyed and steamed but watch this space:-)

The sock that never was......

Once upon a time, as all good stories start, there was a lovely ball of Noro 92 Kureyon sock yarn wanting to be knitted into wonderful stripey socks. The bright rainbow colours promised a stunning and enjoyable knit. So off we went, knit, knit, knit. Toe done. Knit a bit more and the yarn starts to show how lovely these stripes will be.......

For the first time knitting with noro it's looking good. The colours are strong and are contrasting well as we go. Yum, yum, yum. Worth a close-up look:-)

On we go to the short row heel. Now this should be interesting - short rows and making sure the stripes meet up on the way back and when I rejoin the sock. Thought this would be tricky but it's deceptively easy. I shouldn't tell you that so you can be stunned at my prowess!!! I am mighty proud of my first efforts!

And a close-up of the heel stripes so I can remember how I did it the next time:-)))) I love the little green oval at the bottom! I'm liking these socks!

So on we go, knitting up to the top - the home run.....

Oh dear! I start to run into stripe problems - you knew it was too good to be true, didn't you? It's not so easy to see at the top of the full sock, so have a look at just the top closer up.

To explain my sock predicament. To get two socks out of one ball, you use the inside end and the outside end and alternate the colours every four rows. But if you use this method, the colours run the opposite way from each other. Okay, you say so why is this a problem? Because no matter where I start in the ball, one colour will always meet the same colour coming the other way.

In this case, the green. After the heel, the black is drifting into green but the green is now drifting into black and there is a section at the top of this photo where all stripe definition disappears completely. After such a punchy sock this won't do! So what can I do?

Apparently the answer is to have the colour sequences running in the same direction. I do wish I'd known that before I started and knitted such a perfect heel! So to resolve this problem there is only one solution - rip it all back and start again. I paused first and lived with the sock for a day or so before doing this as maybe I would decide I could live with it, but no. This is a present and I do want to get it as good as I can, so rip, rip, rip. I rewound the yarn back into two balls, both going the same way, ready to begin again.

But another problem lurks now. Both balls start at blue - no contrast! So I wind off a chunk and move the sequence on two colours - the only option that will leave enough for a full pair of socks. And then I can start again.

Sorry for the poor photo. I just snapped this quickly in artificial light before ripping it out in disgust. The red which looked so lovely contrasted with the blue now looks vile next to the green. The photo doesn't do the grossness of the clashing colours justice - thank goodness! So what was a lovely sock experience is deteriorating into a fiasco. There is no other way of winding the yarn without taking off too much to get a better combination and its just NOT NICE. I won't knit that. Nope, No way.

So what is a girl to DO? Buy more yarn!!:-)

If I can't get one ball to give me a stripey effect, then some people have used two contrasting colourways to great effect. And you can get 4 socks out of it! The problem buying yarn online is you really can't gauge whether it will work with the colour scheme you have. So I bought two just in case. The top purple one is prime candidate to work well with the blues and greens. And the pink I thought would be lovely with the lime colourway - knee highs? Magenta and Lime. Yum.

So, the ending of this tale is our little sock is now no longer with us but it is happy being reincarnated alongside some purple noro to be the little sock that could!

Giveaway winner!

Well, the rug giveaway has now closed and the lucky winner is....... Glowgirl! The rug above is the rug of glowgirls choice and isn't it lovely? I didn't find that on my search. Just goes to show just how many rugs there are on the CSN rug site!

Glowgirl, an e-mail is on its way to you now so we can get the rug to you as soon as we can! I'd like to thank everyone for taking part, the choice of rugs was really interesting and I wish everyone could have won! It's been good fun to run a competition and I might have more giveaways from now on!

I have my second blogiversary coming up in a month or so, and I think to celebrate I may have a yarny giveaway then - sock yarn dyed in your own colourway? And maybe some dyed fabric for the quilters and collagers out there. Still thinking. What would be your ideal prize to win in a competition? I think there should also be more than one winner:-) Three is a nice number and spreads the happiness around! And worldwide! I'm happy to post anywhere :-)

Thoughts?

Last Day for Giveaway!

Just a little reminder that the rug giveaway is finishing tomorrow, so if you are a US reader, don't forget to enter! The winner will be drawn at random and I will post at the weekend to let you know who has won. If you are the lucky winner, I will e-mail you ASAP!

On the knitting front, the Adriafil Baba yarn has finally arrived. All that time waiting, I'll have forgotten the urchin pattern. But it is very simple so it shouldn't take long to get back into. But I must finish the front panel of the wicked vest first so I don't forget where I am in the neck decreases. Nearly there! Soon, only the last front panel to do and then sewing up! I really hope it has a lot of stretch as it's looking on the small side. Sister dearest, it may well be winging its way to you if it doesn't fit!! But I know you'll like the fushia colour:-)

It will be good to get two WIP's finished and then I can catch up on the forest canopy shawl and the sunflower scarf - remember them?

It has been a while:-) And then there are the noro socks.........More on them tomorrow!

Irish Cottage Knitting

Thanks to a lovely suggestion, I have been looking into Irish Cottage knitting as a way for throwers to speed up their knitting style. This video makes fascinating watching. Look how fast Yarn Harlot knits!!! No wonder she produces so much knitting as well as writing books, going on book tours and lectures:-)

I'd heard of a Shetland style that held one needle still under the armpit - sometimes using a little holder - but I never knew what it was called or seen it in action.

I think this will take a bit of practice to get the hang of but I won't be bothered by miles of st st patterning again if I can crack this!!

Wicked Eyelet Rib Vest aka Wicked fushia

While we are still waiting on the yarn for Urchin - I know, a week waiting already - I've been getting on with a few projects, this lovely eyelet vest pattern and pair of stripey socks with my new noro. The noro socks are a whole story in themselves which I will save for another day but its fair to say there have been trials and tribulations with those socks!

So back to my wicked fushia. It's a lovely pattern with twisted stitches mimicking cables which develops into twists and eyelets up the ribbed section which flows into lovely eyelet detailing on a st st background. It's a simple pattern to follow and each pattern section is charted clearly. Once this is blocked the eyelet detail will be more obvious and as this is a 35" size for my 36" it will be stretching a bit anyway! I plumbed for this size as its meant to be a neat fit and the next size was a 39". Well, if it doesn't fit, it can always be a present!

But this is such a me colour! It will already be fitting well with most of my wardrobe:-) I don't usually wear shirts but this style does look nice on the model. I'll wait to see if I can carry it off!

I've got a little further than the photos show. The back panel is complete and I have started the first front panel. It knits up relatively quickly and the pattern is easy to remember so this is an excellent tv knitting project. So far, I have watched Sleeping murder - miss marple - and Star Trek Insurrection. Now I'm about to start the Lord of the Rings trilogy - extended version. Well, that's a good 12 hours of knitting right there!

See you later!

Rug Giveaway!

Today, I've got some good news for you! I'm hosting a rug giveaway!! The kind people at CSN Rugs are offering one US reader the chance to win any rug from their extensive collection up to the value of $55.

The rules are very simple. To enter, just pop over to the their website, look through their extensive range of rugs and choose your favourite rug up to the value of $55 but not over, and come back here and leave a comment saying which rug it is you like. Do make sure you leave an e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

The competition runs until next friday 19th June and will end at midnight (GMT) where the winner will be drawn at random. So plenty of time to have a good look through the rug collection.

They do host a very comprehensive range from soft florals, geometrics, art inspired, contemporary, traditional, oriental, designer, stripes and natural styles so there should be something for everyone there.

Unfortunately the offer only applies to US readers at the moment. I hope we can hold another giveaway sometime in the future that will include more of us as it's a lovely opportunity!

So, remember to say which rug it is you like, leave your name and your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. And the winner will get their chosen rug sent to them absolutely free! This is so cool! I love presents in the post!

So, off you go! Have good browse and let me know what designs you like. I look forward to seeing what you choose!